


Doing the right thing

by nxmorefear



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Zack Lives, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cloud & Zack backstory - Freeform, F/M, Gen, Humor, M/M, Minor Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Minor Zack Fair/Cloud Strife, Multi, Not Crisis Core Compliant, POV Cloud, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-30 03:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15087896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nxmorefear/pseuds/nxmorefear
Summary: Cloud just woke up from the coma and remembers almost nothing of his past. Tifa Lockhart, his childhood friend, tries to help him along with Zack Fair, his comrade in arms. Soon, the leading figure of Barret Wallace came along, who proposes their first job as mercenaries. Their objective: the Mako Reactor No. 1.





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Haciendo lo correcto](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13631196) by [nxmorefear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nxmorefear/pseuds/nxmorefear). 



> Fic based on Final Fantasy VII that explores the possibility of an alive Zack Fair during the events of the video game and what it would imply in the story’s development. New scenes will be added in this story, as well as severe changes regarding the original game’s script (see fic tags). Small references from FFVII: Crisis Core will be taken, however, most of it will be from my own invention.
> 
> Characters belong to Square Enix // Translation: mureh - Beta: Bailee (allmyghtinoverlybaggypajamas)

_ i. _

The rattle of the train calmed the guilty mind of Cloud, who was watching at the front window how the landscape moved forward to a dark, claustrophobic and insipid scene. It was almost like the film of his sad life. Between his legs and sitting in the corridor of the car, rested the body of another ex-SOLDIER, bleeding to death. His head was supported by Cloud's thigh, possibly dead. Maybe that's why he wasn’t hearing his warm voice guiding him, nor encouraging his path anymore. 

His senses were numb and his thoughts shifted in an eternal loop of very recent memories. As if he had to erase them to assimilate new ones, the only thing he remembered was that day and he felt that it had been the trigger of everything. His pale skin wasn’t able to reflect the change in his mental state, wanting to cry and not even feeling the will to do so.

« _ What do I have to ... do? _ »

_ ii. _

“More junkies?”

“Fuck... Help me get them out of here.”

“Dude, this one is dead ... They’ve killed him.”

“Move them out the way and be careful to not get the floor dirty. You don’t know how bad blood stains are to get out.”

On the pavement, Cloud opened his eyes with difficulty. He could barely focus on the objects in front of him, just blurred forms that sometimes moved. He searched for the recognizable silhouette of his protector among them, however he could not distinguish beyond his own arm, claiming him.

The pitiful sound of his voice barely caught the attention of passers-by, who had too many problems on their own to think  about others.

« _ Help... _ »

“Cloud? Cloud!”

The young man could catch the sound of footsteps approaching, but he couldn’t recognize anyone. He was so weak, he felt lost. Only the sounds managed to fill him with a certain degree of security. Did anyone know him there?

“Please, someone help me!” could be heard around there.

“Wait, isn’t he…?”

« _ Who...? _ »

Before he could have an answer, Cloud fell unconscious.

 

_ iii. _

It was the first time he felt conscious in days. Awake on the bed, Cloud hugged his legs lightly while his gaze was fixed on the fabric of the rumpled blanket. He had some the time to appreciate the old room, somewhat ramshackle, but it was clean and did well its job. He had no complaints, except that he didn’t know where he was, what day it was or who he was. The name of ‘Cloud’ resonated in a kind of train station, but he didn’t know how to place that small memory fragment into a congruous setting.

He raised a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes tightly. Thinking so much had started to give him a headache.

Suddenly, the metal door of the room opened with a screech and, through it, the head of a brunette woman sticked out. Cloud looked right away, irritated by the sudden loud noise.

"I see you're already awake," said the long-haired girl. “How are you doing this morning?”

She came in with a tray of food and then closed the door with one foot. Because of the immediacy of her movements, it seemed that she didn’t expect an answer from him.

"Good... I guess," Cloud said, hushed and tired, forgetting his headache.

The brunette opened her eyes too much, like she had just seen a ghost. Although it seemed that it made her quite happy. She smiled calmly and left the tray by the foot of the bed.

“You already talk and everything. I was wondering when you would start doing so.”

She sat at the edge of the mattress as to speak, which made Cloud flinch. She caught it and secretly moved away from him, unsure.

“Sorry, I have so many questions…”

“Where am I?”, he asked suddenly, without looking at her.

“In my... well, our residence. It's a very long story, but basically we're on top of my bar, the Seventh Heaven.”

While the woman was taking a seat in a chair, Cloud remained in the same position, thoughtful. That made him doubt if he really was fully recovered and the silence didn’t seem to soothe her, so she continued talking.

“And you, Cloud?”. « _ Cloud... yes, that's my name _ ». “What happened?”

He answered by shaking his head lightly. He was supposed to be one with the questions, but it turned out that she knew him, so the pressure was even bigger when he had to  _ answer _ her.

“I… don’t know… I don’t remember anything.”

“You mean you’ve completely lost your memory?”

Cloud nodded and finally looked up at the young woman. He wouldn’t ask for help,  but he needed someone lending him a hand to get his memory back.

"Then you don’t remember me..." she said with a small sigh, though not a defeated one. “I'm Tifa, your childhood friend.”

“Tifa …”, Cloud echoed, searching in the corners of his memory for something that could give him a lead.

Her name was quite familiar, as was her physical appearance. Soon he filled the empty gaps of his memories, bringing back encounters with her, but not many.

“I think I remember... We were neighbors?”

He knew he was right when he caught her friend's smile. It was strange to think of her as a friend, as he barely remember them having a strong friendship. He simply dismissed that thought and tried to give himself time to recall more of her.

“Exactly, on Nibelheim.”

“It was some time ago, right? Some… weeks?”

Cloud searched in Tifa for another smile which would confirm his remembrance, but he didn’t find it at all.

“Well... It's been a while longer." She smiled a moment later. “I am very happy to see you again and also knowing that you have fulfilled your dream.”

Tifa leaned a little forward to look directly at the striking blue of his eyes. Then she pointed them, but quickly sat up straight, since Cloud hadn’t reacted very receptive.

"You’ve become a SOLDIER all in all," continued the brunette. “I’ve also seen the sword you carried when we found you.”

She pointed it out with her thumb; the sword was in a corner of the room. It was then when he was able to recall his training in the Shin-Ra Headquarters, carrying the Buster Sword and fulfilling the most difficult missions entrusted to him. He couldn’t help but feel a pleasant pride flooding his chest; a very subtle smile was drawn on his lips too. However, he quit that job.

“Well, I'm not anymore” he clarified, although something Tifa said before kept him focused on another topic. “When you found me, was there anyone else with me?” the blonde asked, knowing that there would be more questions now.

"Yes," Tifa nodded. “He’s also a SOLDIER or... ex, I don’t know. He was badly hurt and at first we thought he was dead.”

“And…?”

“We brought him here to help him too. We assumed he was coming with you and…” at that moment, Tifa changed the subject. “Well, he's in the next room, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”

Cloud then fell silent and regained his state of self-absorption. Should he care about that guy? He had no idea who he was, nor did he remember his name or his face. Maybe that's why it was so hard to pretend that it affected him, so he just shrugged.

“I suppose you can’t remember him. His name is Zack, but you'll remember over time.” She tried to cheer him up.

Tifa got up from the chair and stretched her arms. She didn’t seem to plan on staying any longer, much less when Cloud gave her no sign of wanting to talk.

“You'd better have breakfast before it gets colder," she said as she walked to the door. “I have to prepare the bar.”

She opened the door, ready to leave, but quickly turned to talk again.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she cursed herself in silence for not being more polite to him. “You are at home, Cloud. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

But she received no response from his part, except for a nod. It was something like a way of thanking her for her kindness. Tifa was content with it and left the room.

Cloud waited a bit before releasing all the air from his lungs. He did not enjoy the conversation too much, nor Tifa's presence. Although he had managed to remember her in that dark sea of his head, he hadn’t found anything that sorted their relationship as friendship. And even if it was, he wasn’t in the mood to treat her like that. Maybe by eating a little, the discomfort would go away.

Then he looked at the food on the tray and a sudden nausea made him turn his face away.

« _ It’ll better if I don’t eat anything... _ »

He curled up on the bed and waited to fall asleep.

_iv._

If he remembered correctly, it had been two weeks since Tifa had found them at the train station in Sector 7. Cloud had done nothing but take refuge in his head and in the four walls of that small room, where he built his security from the words of his friend. She helped him remember and draw a past he had forgotten. It was good to start, but he couldn’t stay there forever.

Seven days were enough for an ex-SOLDIER. He had good skills to fend for himself. He could leave this state of dependence without effort, earn a living as a mercenary and start from scratch alone.

« _ Yes, that’s what I’m going to do. _ »

But there was still something that disturbed him... Or rather someone.

Cloud left his room without first giving Tifa a warning. He didn’t think he had to give any explanations for a little break.

With the sword on his back, he took a step into the corridor and closed his door quietly. Then he remembered what Tifa had told him the first time they spoke.

His eyes slid to the only door next to his. His curiosity had grown over the past few days, as well the desire to recall more events. Being with Tifa had helped him and he wondered if visiting that Zack guy would be the same.

Making sure he had not caught anyone's attention, Cloud entered the room. It was barely illuminated by a source of external light, but he was able to glimpse the silhouette of a person on a cot. A young man with dark hair, pale skin with a somewhat gaunt appearance. If Tifa hadn’t told him about him, he’d have believed he was dead. He could see that he wasn’t when he approached him; his breathing was quite weak.

Seeing him didn’t bring back anything at all, only indifference. That made him think that he really didn’t know him and that it was only a coincidence that he was found with him. Should he feel pity at least? Not even that. Surely he wouldn’t be there when he’d woke up, so he could care less.

Cloud turned his attention to the clothes the guy wore, the bandages and the medicines that were used to heal his wounds, along with some materia.

“How lucky you’ve been...”

He shook his head for a moment and finally left the room.

It was going to be more complicated than he initially believed. Tifa didn’t seem very convinced when she learned what Cloud was planning to do, so she asked him to stay a while longer, at least until Zack woke up. He had no choice but to accept.

The coexistence then became necessary, something that Cloud wasn’t very comfortable with. Sometimes the clientele at the bar were very annoying, especially when they met four in particular. Tifa hadn’t formally presented them to him, but he suspected the reason very well. It was about being SOLDIER, now former. He supposed they were a resistance group or something. They called themselves Avalanche and they said they were helping the planet, but Cloud always saw them at the bar, eating and drinking. To the blonde, that sounded like a conspiracy story and he didn’t give them much credit.

Everything would have stayed the same if he hadn’t had his first quarrel with Barret, the leader and the one with a gun implanted in his right arm.

“Go back to those bastards. We don’t want you here.”

It was what he heard Barret say when Cloud returned one night to the bar. That didn’t end well for either of them and Tifa tried to excuse that guy because of the alcohol. Cloud's answer, surprisingly presumptuous, downplayed the man’s words. He had very clear which of the two was right and he didn’t need to reaffirm himself.

« _ "I don’t care what he thinks of me. Soon I’ll leave this place.” _ »

He kept saying in Tifa’s presence while she apologized on behalf of the group.

 

_ v. _

A sudden yawn and a groan echoed throughout the room just as Tifa was picking up the dirty bandages from the table. She shook slightly and turned to Zack, who was shuffling in the bed in pain that he didn’t intend to keep quiet.

The young woman watched him closely and waited for him to notice her presence or, at least, to know if he needed anything. For the moment it didn’t seem to be serious and that reassured Tifa; she had put a lot of effort into healing his wounds.

"You woke up at last," she said dryly.

Zack lazed a little more until he noticed her sitting next to him, in a chair. At first it was difficult to recognize her, but it was her ... Tifa Lockhart, the martial arts expert and an excellent tourist guide.

“Tifa...?” With half-lidded eyes, he tried to focus his gaze on her; it was an uncomfortable coincidence. “Wow, it’s a small world.”

"So it seems," she said, her shoulders hunched, trying to take the situation with ease.

“Who was going to tell me that I would find you here…” Zack looked at the room. “By the way, where am I?”

“In the Seventh Heaven.”

“And that is…?” he raised his eyebrows.

They both looked at each other in silence and then noticed the tension that existed between them. Tifa ended up sighing and leaning back in the chair.

“It's my bar. We brought you and Cloud when we found you in the…”

“Cloud! That’s it!” Zack interrupted suddenly and straightened up in the bed with the intention of getting up. “Where is he?”

The brunette, before Zack did something stupid, grabbed him by one of his shoulders and held him in place.

“He’s okay. But he isn’t here right now, but he'll be back soon.”

Zack sighed with relief and then took both hands over the wounds of his gut. They were bandaged, without any blood stains and, although he had quite mobility, they still hurt.

“Thank goodness... I couldn’t forgive myself if something happen to him.”

That ignited the old anger of the woman, although  it wasn’t the most important thing now. Cloud worried her and Tifa needed Zack's help to solve some issues.

“In truth, he isn’t quite right. He woke up a week ago and... well…”

“What’s the matter?” he asked with concern.

“He doesn’t remember much. He barely knows who I am and he doesn’t even remember you.”

Zack blinked a couple of times, disheartened.

“Wow..." he ducked his head, but he quickly overcame his sadness. “Let’s not worry. Surely he needs more time. You’ll see how in a few days he will even remember the day he was born.”

His optimism didn’t infect Tifa at all.

“I don’t think he…”

“Come on, nothing happens," Zack insisted. “I know him and I know that everything’s gonna be fine.”

“No, no. It’s not that. It's just... I think there's something else. It's like he's not... Cloud." She said, not sure what she was saying.

“What do you mean, Tifa?”

“I've been talking to him these days and he's not setting his memories right. He even makes up new ones." She lowered her gaze, waiting for Zack's opinion. “I haven’t told him, I didn’t want to confuse him even more.”

However, he just fell silent and looked at the young woman as he drew a vague conclusion from all that. In a way, he was not surprised at what she was saying, the circumstances he barely remembered explained his friend's situation.

“I can’t tell you for sure what happened, but..." he tried to recall. “As far as I remember, Cloud wasn’t well. It’s possible that he hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

Zack made a small gesture of wanting to talk, but he realized that he also had small memory gaps.

The conversation between the two old acquaintances didn’t continue for much longer, as if the events and their encounter in the past had not existed. They only agreed that Cloud's situation didn’t look very good and that they would simply hide their concern for him. They didn’t want to pressure him or arouse doubts in him; it was something he should find out alone.

_vi._

“Cloud!” Tifa's voice came from the bar.

There were not many people that night, so it was easy to get his attention. The blonde entered through the door of the bar and, as always, straight to the door that took him to the top floor where he could be calm and rested. Apparently, that night would be an isolated case, one in which he had to keep to Tifa.

For that reason, Cloud stopped and waited for her while he handed the bar over to Marlene, Barret’s little girl.

“Cloud, Zack woke up this afternoon." She flashed a somewhat forced smile as she clasped her hands behind her back. “You'd better go and pay him a visit. He’s looking forward to see you.”

“Me…?”

Cloud looked away.

They weren’t very good news in his opinion, but he agreed to see him anyway.

“Come on then," he said as he opened the door that would lead them to the stairs.

Zack was lying on the bed, filled up with the food Tifa gave him half an hour earlier, so that was the picture they found when they opened his room.

“Hey," Zack said when he saw them go through the door. “About time you finally showed up.”

He sat on the bed effortlessly. Apparently he wasn’t worried about the pain, knowing he was almost healed. Cloud had noticed that at once.

“Zack, stay still. You need to rest a few more days," Tifa reprimanded him with the hands on her hips.

Zack scratched the back of his neck, troubled.

“Sorry.”

“No one would say you've been lying on a bed for a month." Cloud added, crossing his arms and staying in the corner of the room.

“I'm as surprised as you are, believe me.”

Zack widened his smile and got up from the bed as if nothing.

“But what have I told you?” she repeated.

“I'm fine, I already took a walk around when you weren’t there.”

Sure of himself, he put both hands behind his head and Tifa crossed his arms, sighing heavily.

“You are a hopeless case, right?”

“Trust me. It's not the first time I’ve been riddled with bullets” and he felt very pleased of himself, as if it were something that happened every day.

Zack was a very active and optimistic person. It could be seen in his eyes and gestures. Cloud even thought he was going to do some squats any time.

Soon he saw Zack walking to him, extending a hand to make him feel integrated.

“Tifa’s already told me that you have memory problems, but I want you to know that nothing happens if you still do not remember me." He smiled calmly.

Cloud looked at the hand he held out to him and then looked up at his face. Zack didn’t look a bad guy after all, and his words took a great deal of weight off him, even when he thought he didn’t care at all.

Cloud nodded and shook hands with him.

“Nice to meet you again, Cloud." He began to shake their hands warmly. “I am Zack Fair and we met during our SOLDIER training.”

“Nice to meet you... I guess?” He answered as he released his hand and shrugged.

He wasn’t sure how to act in a case as strange as this, but Zack did not seem to expect anything in particular.

“Now that we have made the presentations, let's go to the main thing... will you join me in my career as a mercenary? I don’t promise large sums of money, but together we’ll have better success. What do you say?”

Zack's gaze was fixed intently on Cloud, as if waiting for his response immediately. But such effusiveness was disturbing him a little.

“That's just what it was... Well, yes, why not?”

Cloud saw him raise his fist in victory.

“Great! I have a good feeling. They will fight for our services, I see it.”

Something told Cloud that he would end up regretting this at any moment, but something good would come out of it. 

« _ At least I think I’ll not get bored while traveling _ » , he thought. 

He didn’t seem like a bad person, but at the same time, he worried that Zack might be too tiresome. Although by the cold look Tifa gave him, Cloud wasn’t very sure that it was the best option. Zack was supposed to know him; they seemed to have been friends in the past, so, with a little patience, he’d recover his memory thanks to him. What would go wrong?


	2. Reactor no.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters belong to Square Enix // Translation: mureh - Beta: Bailee (allmyghtinoverlybaggypajamas)

i.

Only five days passed since Zack's awakening and Cloud still couldn’t quite adapt to that company that would follow him for a long time. It was hard to admit that he needed him, but every passing moment, it felt less important for him to recover his memory. Was it really so necessary? What he _did_ need was to be alone. He really wanted to be. For now it had been simple, because Zack was still resting while he was in charge of looking for customers in Sector 7. But only time would tell how annoying his presence would be.

Apparently, his luck would change that afternoon.

Tifa asked Cloud to stay around till four at the Seventh Heaven, along with Zack. She didn’t tell him the reason, only that it was very important.

“It's getting late," Zack mumbled.

Both were sitting at a distant table inside the bar, waiting for their friend to appear. Cloud stayed quiet, despite Zack's attempts to start a conversation; the triviality disgusted him.

“There comes Tifa.”

The young woman let herself be seen with a greeting the moment she passed through the back door. Behind her, that bully with the gun-arm. A man with dark skin and strikingly tall. From his looks, anyone would think twice before messing with him. Cloud, however, wasn’t scared of him at all. And apparently Zack wasn’t either, at least not in the same way.

“Who is the big guy?” Zack asked, glancing at his companion.

“His name is Barret Wallace," he answered. “I don’t know much about him, except that he has a grudge against us.”

“Huh? why is that?”

“Wait and you see it for yourself.”

He didn’t had much time to give any explanation, since they already had Tifa and Barret almost next to them. They both sat in front of them; Tifa looking somewhat nervous and Barret eyeing at them with harshness and a certain resignation. On the other hand, Cloud was indifferent and Zack watched them with enough attention.

The uncomfortable silence that followed was immediately broken by Tifa.

“Well... I hope you're all doing well." She cleared her throat. “I'm sorry I didn’t mention anything, but it's Barret's job to tell you.”

Zack and Cloud looked at each other and Barret's voice rose.

“You’re mercenaries, right? Well, I want to hire your services.”

Cloud crossed his arms and threw his back back until he found the back of the chair; Zack seemed more interested in it and his wide smile showed it.

“Of course, what is it—”

“I think you didn’t want to know anything about SOLDIER," Cloud interrupted, looking at Barret with disdain.

Barret's response was immediate.

“But you aren’t anymore," he said through clenched teeth, “so don’t get finicky now, spikes.”

Cloud went to stand up to face him, but Zack stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to remain seated, smile still on his face.

“Cloud,” Tifa warned him “settle down, okay? Barret has a good job for you. At least listen to him.”

He suppressed the desire to leave and fell silent, something he would do during the entire time the meeting lasted. Then, faced with a new silence, the older man went on with the explanation.

“What I'm going to tell you is extremely secret and I don’t intend to repeat it twice, so stay tuned." He leaned forward so he would not have to rise his voice. “My team and I are going to blow up the Sector 8 Reactor, but we need a pair to guide us as we move through there. One of my colleagues gave us a map, but I cannot risk unexpected incidents.”

“It's going to be complicated..." Zack breathed, who had also leaned forward to talk to Barret. “There’re a lot of security, identification doors and guards. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's a very risky job.”

“Do you think I haven’t already thought about that?” bragged Barret. “We have everything ready. We’ve managed to hack some identifiers in these last days and we aren’t clueless in battle.”

Cloud listened surprised. He never imagined that they’d do more than just sit and watch television, drink and complain about how wrong the world was going but not doing much more than that.

“So, what you're missing are two ex-SOLDIERS who are familiar with Shin-Ra’s implanted system..." Zack said as he stroked his chin. “Of course, we’ll be that help.”

Zack's smile satisfied the needs of Barret and Tifa, who saw their goal closer. However, there was still something important to talk about and Cloud was responsible for that.

“How much are you going to pay us?” he asked.

His indifference really drove Barret up the wall, who glared at the blond with a sneer before opening his mouth.

“Fifteen hundred gil fair enough for you?” he muttered.

Zack looked at his partner. The price offered for their services didn’t convince him that much.

“Fifteen hundred per head?”

“One thousand five hundred for the job." Barret clarified as he let the words fall between his teeth.

“That’s a pittance,"complained Cloud.

“A moment..." Zack interrupted the meeting and went to his friend's ear to negotiate better with him. “To begin with it's fine. They’re a revolutionary group and, if we do it well, they’ll surely want us to work more for them. We can ask for more next time.”

Cloud's expression relaxed a little. Zack's approach convinced him, although he had already lost interest in negotiating.

“Fine, but you take care of it.”

After finishing the conversation in private, Zack's smile showed that they had taken a good step. There wasn’t much to talk about from now on, so Cloud stood up and left the group.

“We take the job," Zack confirmed and held out a hand to Barret. “When do we get started?”

“Tomorrow night," Barret said. “Tifa will tell you the exact place and time soon. Do not fail us.”

A little soon to be able to prepare in conditions, but Zack agreed and both shook hands to close the deal. Cloud knew there would be some confrontation with Shin-Ra while they were there. There would be nothing that would resist them, but it’d be a good idea to practice a little and warm up before the day.

 

ii.

He leaned back on the dirty old tiles of Tifa's house as he watched the large plate that dimmed the sky. Cloud's memory brought to his imagination what the sky must be like that night, but surely, with the pollution, he’d hardly see a star or two. It would be a perfect break if it weren’t for the background noise: vehicles, people screaming in the bar and the continuous snore of the Mako power generators. Was it true what AVALANCHE was talking about? Cloud was convinced that, if he told Zack, he would think the same.

« _Those are just hoaxes that people believe to feel that their unhappy life can be fixed._ »

He and Zack hadn’t talked much since he woke up. Cloud didn’t want to talk either and he was grateful that he gave him space. The conversations that day had only been limited to the mission they accepted and the need to warm up the body a bit. Zack was worried because he had just spent a month in bed, however he was even more worried for Cloud; he didn’t exactly tell him the reason, but he didn’t like the fact that Zack underestimated him.

“So you were here." A voice came from the open window in the roof.

Cloud turned his face to recognize Zack, who easily came out of it and walked through the tiles to stop at his side. In both hands, he carried two swords: his and one more that he had just bought, apparently. Then Zack left them on the surface and sat beside him, without considering that he could be a bother.

“Thinking?” Zack asked.

“Something like that." Cloud replied as he straightened up and fixed his gaze on the shantytown horizon.

“It isn’t good to think too much. It makes us worry about the stupidest things.”

Cloud shrugged.

“If you say so…”

Zack responded with a silent laugh.

“I’m sure you were thinking about tomorrow and the little things that could go wrong.”

There were a few seconds of silence.

“Not really…”

“That's good," he said as if Cloud's response had been a pleasant surprise. “But we can’t be too confident either.”

The taller of the two, Zack, encouraged his friend to stand up with a couple of slaps on his shoulder. Then he continued speaking.

“We should train a little.”

“Now?” he inquired startled, glancing wide eyed at Zack.

“Of course!”

Now both standing, Zack handed Cloud the Buster Sword. He grabbed it by the handle with some hesitation, though he couldn’t deny that feeling to show Zack he had great fighting skills.

“I see you got your own sword," Cloud said, pointing to the one Zack was holding.

“That's right." He showed it to him with a smile. “You like it? I borrowed it from that girl... Jessie's the name. It’s beautiful.”

“The sword or the girl?”

A crooked smile appeared in Zack’s lips at the question.

“Let's leave it at that.”

Suddenly, Zack made the first offensive attack on Cloud to see how were his reflexes. Surprisingly and by the skin of his teeth, Cloud stopped the offensive with the already worn blade of his sword.

“Good reflexes.”

But Zack didn’t stop there, so he returned to attack the blonde with a couple of hits more, which he stopped more effectively. Cloud was forced to take a some of steps back, driven by the great force he was rammed with. Under their feet, some tiles dislodged from their place. It could be dangerous, but Zack had no intention of stopping.

The steel sounded loudly from the roof and Zack left no respite to his friend, only giving him a brief opportunity to defend himself from his attacks; maybe it was the only thing he needed to check. Arriving at the edge of the roof, Zack threatened to throw Cloud to the edge, a fact that he avoided after taking advantage of the split second falter that would destabilize Zack’s defense.

Cloud made his first offense when he hit his sword perpendicular to Zack's. An instant of struggle before, Cloud pushed him with all his strength and made him back a couple of steps. Zack, unfortunately, placed a foot on a loose tile and, with the inertia of the impulse, slipped and fell on the roof.

“Ouch…” he grumbled, somewhat resentful of the old wounds. “That was good, Cloud. Better than I expected.”

He approached the other and held out a hand to help him to his feet. He could have felt the pride of having beaten him, but he had no merit when Zack wasn’t entirely recovered yet.

“I've been training a bit these days," Cloud confessed as he let the sword rest vertically on the ground. “You could to do the same, but you’ve been doing good so far.”

Cloud's comment made Zack smile.

“You have a great sword," Zack dropped as he allowed himself the luxury of grasping it even if Cloud held it between his two hands. “Surely you have forgotten, but…”

They made a small exchange with their weapons. Zack began to examine the worn steel and then gave smooth lunges. Meanwhile, Cloud remained attentive to his companion, in silence.

“This was the sword I got when I got my 1st Class rank," Zack explained cautiously, then glancing sideways at his friend. “I'm very fond of it.”

Cloud's reaction was immediate and he cocked his head in confusion. Was it really Zack’s? But then... what about that memory he had when he achieved it? Maybe he lost it in those five years he had completely forgotten.

“I didn’t know it was yours. Sorry," Cloud apologized with some difficulty, scratching the back of his neck. “I'll give it back to you then.”

“No, no,” he refused, shaking one hand to dismiss the misunderstanding. “I want you to keep it.”

Zack approached and extended the sword to him. To swore by his kind smile, Cloud understood that there was nothing else that made him more excited. Then he nodded and they did the exchange of swords again. He didn’t fully understand the reason for this gift, but he wasn’t entirely interested in his motivations either.

“Take good care of it, ok?" he asked pleasantly, a soft smile on his face.

Cloud responded with another nod and contemplated his sword for a few seconds. Suddenly, a question came from his lips without thinking.

“Zack, what happened to us exactly?” he asked when he looked up at him.

Zack pressed his lips and shook his head a couple of times after shrugging.

“I don’t know very well, but everything has to do with something that happened in your hometown. We fled from one of the Shin-Ra facilities, but President Shinra’s soldiers found us." He began to say a series of seemingly disconnected memories and it seemed he had no intention of get into details. “They almost killed me and apparently you brought me here.”

Cloud felt a deep disappointment when he didn’t get a conclusive answer. Zack seemed to notice and he didn’t repress his desire to approach the blonde.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be pushing up daisies now." He smiled again, full of gratitude. “Thanks, Cloud.”

He didn’t say anything about it, because he didn’t even remember he did such a thing.

“Well, we'd better rest. Tomorrow will be a hard day," Zack suggested after putting a hand on his shoulder.

He didn’t wait any longer and threw a wave to Cloud before leaving the roof through the window. However, Cloud just watched him until he was out of sight. He decided to stay a few more minutes on the surface of tiles, making some time before going to sleep.

Then his eyes admired the great sword and the new symbolism it received that night.

« _Thanks, Zack..._ »

iii.

Everything was ready. Barret didn’t stop walking from one place to another, confirming to the rest of his comrades that everything was under control. Cloud had been listening to the same speech over and over again, and was beginning to make him nervous. At least the rattle of the train was distracting.

They were on their way to Sector 8, specifically in a freight car that would stop right at the rear entrance of the north reactor. He could see the storage boxes thanks to the emergency lights, the Shin-Ra logo confirmed their destination. They were close.

“Good, we'll be in front of the Reactor in less than five minutes, so move your asses and get ready." Barret raised his voice to the team.

Immediately, AVALANCHE other three members, Biggs, Jessie and Wedge, moved. However, Cloud and Zack didn’t respond the same way to their client. They would obey, of course, but in their own way.

“Nervous?” Zack asked him.

“No,” Cloud said sure of himself, “I’m here just for the money.”

“Do you trust Barret?”

Barret reinforced his leadership with his deep voice and addressed the two mercenaries.

“Hey, you two! Less chatter! We’re about to arrive.”

Zack tried to calm their boss with a gesture by raising the palm of his hand. Then he returned with Cloud, who was quieter than usual.

“Don’t worry about that. You know I'm in charge of negotiations." He spoke with a convincing smile as he pointed to his chest. “I won’t let him get away without paying.”

The train began to slow down and Barret shouted again to the presents.

“Everyone at the doors now! Let's take advantage of the element of surprise.”

His teammates positioned themselves in front of the doors and Barret prepared to shoot in case Shin-Ra surprised them first. Then he pointed to the roof hatch for the two ex-SOLDIER, where they’d have to go. They both stood under the gate and opened it. Cloud was the first to poke his head through the opening and, squinting with the force of the air hitting his face, spotted the immense reactor rising before them. Soon he climbed completely to the roof of the car while maintaining a low profile. He looked at the platform that was getting closer and he got to see a patrol of five guards with their backs to them and a couple of train officials.

“Tell them to get ready to fight. We cannot waste time with a patrol," Cloud mentioned to Zack, who was waiting at the trapdoor.

Zack repeated his words to AVALANCHE and they soon opened their respective doors to the outside, just as the train stopped.

Both Zack and Cloud waited for AVALANCHE to create confusion among Shin-Ra's employees. Biggs and Jessie were the first to launch themselves to a hand-to-hand combat with the officials, knocking them out. Then Wedge and Barret had their guns aimed directly at the patrol that was being put in formation.

“Shoot them now! Quick!”

The enemy bullets flew in AVALANCHE’s direction, but completely deviated from their trajectory. Wedge and Barret were faster to open fire to the first row of three. Behind them, Zack and Cloud took advantage of the chaos to jump off the deck toward the last two standing guards. Closeness was his greatest advantage, so Cloud dropped the weight of his sword against his adversary's shoulder; Zack penetrated the other with the blade of his.

In a matter of seconds, the enemy squad fell to the ground.

The cheering of the AVALANCHE members was heard behind the backs of the two mercenaries.

“Leave that for later!” Barret interrupted before Cloud and Zack bragged of skills. “Let's move!”

He began to run towards the door of goods of the Reactor and, behind him, his teammates followed, who didn’t stop laughing for the first victory of the mission. Cloud thought that they hadn’t expected to beat the odds, if the victorious cheers were anything to go off of.

“Jessie, you know what you have to do.”

“Yes!” exclaimed the young woman when she reached the door commands.

Jessie, the technology expert, started opening the box that contained the cables and computing devices. Her task was to downgrade the system so that its fake identifiers could get them through without raising the alarm.

“Shit..." laughed one of the AVALANCHE members, Biggs of the headband, while looking at Zack and Cloud. “You are truly SOLDIERs... I'm freaking out!”

Zack smiled broadly because of Biggs' excited reaction towards them.

“Well, now we work for you," he said.

“Something you don’t come across every day. SOLDIERs working for a group like AVALANCHE... what a mess.”

“Wait... so it’s true that you are SOLDIERs?” Jessie exclaimed in surprise as she interrupted her work. “Aren’t we supposed to fight against them too?”

“Hold your horses, Jessie," Biggs tried to clear things up. “They were, but not anymore. Now they’re mercenaries.”

That explanation was enough for Jessie to continue her work; quite stressful knowing that Barret wasn’t taking his eyes off her.

Tho Biggs continued with the talk.

“And your names are? I don’t remember them.”

“Zack.”

“Cloud…”

“Right!” the guy smiled. “My name is…”

“I don’t care what you call yourself. When we finish here, I'm leaving." Cloud interrupted and broke away from the group formed around the door.

An awkward silence was made between Biggs and Zack, who looked at each other for a moment.

“Don’t take it into account. He's not very talkative," Zack excused the blonde, already accustomed to his asocial attitude. “Your name is?”

“Biggs. Hey, thanks for…”

“What the hell are you doing, Biggs?! I told you not to get involved with them!” Again another interruption, this time from Barret.

Biggs apologized to his boss and looked at Zack uncomfortably.

"We'll talk another time," he whispered.

Zack nodded. "That’d be better, don’t get into trouble because of me," he joked with a wide smile.

The back door opened without any mishap and Jessie rejoiced with a clapping.

“Good, our goal is behind this door." Barret pointed inside and looked at the whole group. “We’ll meet on the bridge in front of the reactor, understood?”

“Understood!” they answered in unison, except Cloud and Zack.

“Then what are you waiting for?!”

And with a gesture, he sent Biggs, Jessie and Wedge inside first. They disappeared behind the door with firm and rapid footsteps. Barret, instead, stopped in the doorway and detained Cloud and Zack, who were about to follow the rest of the group.

“If you both do anything suspicious..." he warned. “I’ll be watching you.”

“Hey, calm down,” said Zack to ease tensions. “You've already seen we're taking this seriously.”

However, Barret wasn’t entirely convinced of it. He just gave them a disdainful look and continued his way behind his group.

"If I were you I’d ignore him," Cloud said as a solution. “He’s as stubborn as a mule.”

Cloud was fed up with Barret yelling to them and his need for reaffirmation as a leader, so he preferred not to play up to him anymore. He just wanted to finish the job and to get back to his own business.

After that, he went through the door and Zack followed him in a hurry.

Right at the entrance, AVALANCHE knocked down the merchandise controller. Wedge, who had a handkerchief on his head and few extra weight, stayed in front of the commands room at Barret's request. Cloud and Zack crossed the long corridor and ignored the doors that could divert them from their duties. Despite the labyrinth of the Reactor facilities, both found their way to the security gates, which worked by levels, depending on the rank one had within the business hierarchy.

Cloud managed to spot Barret at the end of the room where they’d need the identifiers. A little further back, Jessie and Biggs were preparing the opening of the doors.

“You’ve finally arrived, snails," he exclaimed, stressed. “It’s the first time you’re in a reactor or what?”

Because of the face that Barret showed, he seemed very indignant.

"No, of course not," Zack said in the first place. “We worked on all kinds of tasks for Shin-Ra. I, at least, did work inside one for a while.”

"Me too," Cloud continued.

Barret nodded, somewhat incredulous at their statements.

“The planet is full of Mako energy, did you know? And everyone uses it every day…”

Cloud shrugged, something that made Barret more irritated.

“It’s what keeps this planet alive and Shin-Ra doesn’t stop sucking it with these machines!”

However, Cloud showed no interest and Zack scratched his head, searching a way to not let them fight again.

“I'm not here for an ecology talk. Can we keep going already?” Cloud mumbled.

At that moment, Zack signaled Barret to cut off the conversation. He grunted and after a moment, calmed down.

“Let’s go…”

The door to the first level opened with the victory shout of Biggs and Jessie.

"Guys, we've already managed to decode the doors with the fake ID," she said.

She advanced with Biggs to the next room, where another door awaited them. The rest of the group continued along the same path in pretended silence, although AVALANCHE lacked the liking for it. Biggs was amazed to have come this far, which confirmed Cloud's theory and the little faith they had in the beginning.

“All the people who surely died to get here... we are lucky," said Biggs as he accompanied his comrade to open the next door.

Another room opened before them. This housed the elevator that would take them to the underground floor where the Reactor’s core awaited them, the one that extracted the energy from the inside of the planet.

“Well, we split up here,” Biggs said goodbye since he’d be in charge of keeping the area clear. “Good luck, guys.”

"I’m trusting you," Barret cautioned and raised a fist at his comrade. “Let's keep going.”

Except for Biggs, they all went up the elevator. Jessie got into the bottom and pressed the button of the desired floor. Barret couldn’t contain the words and Cloud noticed it every time the older man looked especially nervous.

“The reactors are draining the life of the planet little by little. And soon everything will end.”

The blonde brought a hand to his forehead, tired of Barret’s obsession with the damn subject.

“It's not my problem, Barret. Cut it off.” Cloud finally answered.

“Cloud, the planet is dying!” Barret insisted in an attempt to awaken a hint of sensitivity in him.

Zack and Jessie looked at each other with bewilderment.

“The only thing that worries me is to finish this before security catch us.”

Barret could barely contain his anger at Cloud's aloofness. When Zack realized that the leader was having a hard time restraining himself, he placed himself between the two, just in case the fight escalated.

“There’ll be time to discuss this, okay? When we get to Seventh Heaven you can talk about everything you want, Barret." Zack said, looking directly at him, almost asking him to please stop talking about it, not at least in Cloud’s presence.

“Well... we've here," Jessie interrupted, uncomfortable with the tension in the elevator, and bolted out of there as soon as she could.

The rest left the cockpit and looked at the industrialized picture of the hidden part of Shin-Ra. The sound of the generator was penetrating, its interior dirty and devoid of personality, and, although Cloud tried to deny it, it was as if it absorbed the will to live. Maybe that was the reason why nobody worked down there and only security robots were in charge of that task. Though admitting it would be like agreeing with Barret and that displeased him.

“Come on, Cloud," Zack nudged his friend, who had stayed behind looking at the unnerving picture. “You standing here now and before you were hurrying Barret…”

Cloud ignored the teasing and he followed the path that led them to some stairs. The next floor was fair bit away, so the number of steps seemed to extend almost to the infinite. Far ahead of them, Barret and Jessie reached the next door.

Once they crossed its threshold, the construction of the reactor became more chaotic. It was an area full of mechanisms and valves, which indicated that they were very close to their destination. Everywhere Cloud looked, there was barely any floor, mostly a pile of levers, cranks, vertical ladders, and steel conduits, through which the energy was conducted to the different homes around Midgar.

“If I'm not mistaken, you'll have to continue down those stairs to the bottom," Jessie said, moving to stand next to the room’s control console. “I'll stay here to guard your backs.”

“Alright, Jessie. If you notice something strange, let us know," Barrett asked.

She nodded energetically and removed the pack from her shoulders. Then he approached Cloud and gave it to him with great care.

“The bomb’s inside," she warned, a playful smile on her face. “Try not to move it much if you don’t want it to explode in our face.”

“It’s that powerful?” Zack asked puzzled, while Cloud accepted the bomb without saying a word.

“Well of course! What did you expect? That we’ve done all this journey for nothing?” Barret blurted out.

“You’re right,” he corrected as he laughed, embarrassed. “But I mean... well, what does it matter? Do we attach the bomb already or not?”

“You two lead," Barret said, pointing to the stairs. “You know where to go much better than we will.”

Cloud carried the backpack on one of his shoulders and took the initiative of the group. He went down the first stairs to the next tortuously narrow path of tubes and bars, where it was easy to lose his balance. Anyone could fall into the void and not know exactly where it would end. The bottom was clouded by a thick layer of steam, which Cloud wondered of its origin and toxicity. For the moment they didn’t seem to be suffering the consequences and that was enough for him.

The three descended and crossed a dark corridor that led them to a long bridge. As it passed, a spacious room opened and, in the background, the Reactor’s core. There, the roar of it became unbearable to Cloud's ears the more he concentrated on it.

Barret hurried passed by them as they reached the core.

“When we blow this place, there’ll be nothing left but a pile of garbage," the leader said as the echo of his voice spread through the structure of the chamber.

Trailing after him was Zack and Cloud. The latter was removing the burden from his shoulder and letting it hang off his arm.

"Cloud, set the bomb." Barret said as he pointed to the power transformer.

That order confused Zack, which made him interfiere before Cloud did what he was commanded.

“Shouldn’t you be the one doing it?”

“I’m paying you to do it," the bigger man explained. “I have to make sure you're not setting us up.”

"Whatever." Cloud murmured under his breath.

He had no qualms about showing his disinterest. He simply advanced the first steps towards the core, ones that were becoming heavier as he got closer. Suddenly his vision turned dark and his ears caught a high-pitched deafening buzz. He was paralyzed for a few seconds, with his hands on his head, scared.

« _What the…?_ »

_Be careful!_

_It won’t be just the Reactor!_

“Cloud! What’s…?”

He heard Zack in the distance, but he was unable to respond. That dissociation remained present until he had a real contact with reality. Zack was in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“Huh…?”

“Cloud, something’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

Cloud, coming out of that strange state, responded with his head with a forceful head shake. Although he knew it would be difficult to convince the other that nothing was wrong anyway.

“There’s no time for that!” demanded Barret. “Set up the damn bomb already!”

“Y-Yeah, sorry..." Cloud apologized.

Zack moved away now that the blonde was more recovered, and he knelt in front of the transformer. He pulled the bomb out of the backpack and pressed the single button that activated it. A countdown of ten minutes began displayed on the screen. A scant ten minutes.

“Only ten minutes to escape?” Cloud complained when he glared at Barret.

“What?!” Zack exclaimed knowing the limited time they had. “Ten minutes? Wait, you didn’t tell us that!”

“There's no time to discuss the details now!” replied Barret. “We have to get out of here now!”

He began to make gestures with his arms to hurry; they had to escape as fast as they could. However, the Shin-Ra alarms were activated throughout the reactor, diminishing any expectation of leaving without causing a stir.

“Shit! And now what’s going on?!”

From Barret's telecommunicator sounded Jessie's voice.

“ _Guys, I have bad news._ ”

“You don’t say!” Barret barked ironically. “Do something!”

“ _I’ll try to access security cameras and mechanized doors, but I don’t promise anything. I’ll try to make sure they don’t leave us locked up here at least._ ”

"Thanks, that sounds great," Barret said sarcastically. He was especially exasperated and turned to Cloud and Zack. “Let's move!”

But before they could take a step toward the exit, the sound of heavy thuds descended on their heads with increasing force, speed and menace. That couldn’t mean anything other than the visit of a robot-guard. Cloud hardened his expression and gripped the great sword behind his back.

"I don’t like how that sounds," Cloud admitted.

“Me either.”

“And what do you suggest we do then?” Barret asked desperately.

The noise ceased all of a sudden, which left the three hushed and even more on guard. They looked at each other and, suddenly, the machine fell from above in a roar that unleveled the platform on which they were standing. A robot three meters tall at the very least with a shape of a dangerous scorpion, was preparing to locate its first target. The group sought stability after the tremor as Barret managed to run towards the exit.

“Let’s run!”

“No!” Zack stopped him. “Running away will make us more defenseless. The Shin-Ra robots are very fast and smart, and are programmed to kill. If you want to have a chance to survive, we have to take it down.”

Barret gritted his teeth and then raised the arm in which he had his large gun encrusted, pointing to the machine. The Guard Scorpion fixed its objective in Cloud, why its first attack was directed towards him he didn’t know. From its head, a submachine gun came up and shot him. Cloud intuitively dodged the burst of bullets with a jump close to his companions.

“The fastest way would be dismember it!” Cloud thought up. “I’ll distract him!”

He assumed the role of bait, trusting his own life to Zack and Barret. The other two accepted the plan and surrounded the machine. Then they placed themselves behind it while the robot focused all its attention on Cloud, its current target.

The first thing he did was watch carefully the Guard Scorpion movements. A machine could be more predictable just by paying attention to its patterns. Cloud already knew that junk and its weak points, just as he expected Zack to know as well. For now he would only limit his attacks and keep it as still as possible. Hard work, but not impossible.

On the other hand, Barret and Zack took advantage of their favored place, wielding their respective weapons. Zack started with a straight thrust at one of the hind legs, but for the moment it was not enough to stop it. A lot of sparks came from the detached limb, which caused a small explosion that destabilized the Guard Scorpion.

“Barret, be careful not to provoke him too much or he will make us his targets too," explained Zack.

“And what the hell do you want me to do?!” Barret snapped, not knowing exactly where to aim.

“Its weapons! Destroy them! It has a laser at the tip of its tail, a submachine gun on its head and, if I remember correctly, a couple of cannons too. Just point and shoot!”

Barret cursed the machine and opened fire directly at the machine gun protruding from the top of the scorpion. The impact of the bullets deformed it, making the burst of the machine gun go off in all directions, turning it into a useless weapon. Zack, meanwhile, found the perfect moment to launch a new thrust into another leg of the five that remained. However, there was still not enough to make the robot fall to the ground.

It was noticeable that its movements were more and more clumsy and that Cloud was able to keep it entertained more easily with the provocations of his sword. But it wasn’t always going to be infallible. The attacks it was receiving from the rear caused the robot to turn with a jump, but a rather unfortunate one. The lack of hind legs left it on the ground, with no possibility of moving, except for the only offensive movements it had left.

“Take that!” Barret shouted with a jump of quick victory.

Suddenly, the tail of the machine began to rise and the inside of it to revolutionize; it was preparing the next attack, directed to Zack and Barret. Zack looked towards his back; the exit was a few meters away. Then he looked back at the sting that pointed to them.

“It’s preparing the laser." He frowned and took a step back. “Cloud, let’s hu—

And before he could finish the sentence, the tail of the Guard Scorpion collapsed next to a black smoke that didn’t augur anything good. Cloud took advantage of the machine’s immobility and his position to cut off its tail. That way the getaway would be more secure.

Zack beamed at his friend and signaled to Barret.

“Let's get out of here before the bomb goes off.”

Barret and Zack left the core room as fast as they could, Cloud behind them at the same pace. After passing through the labyrinth of stairs and conduits, the group spotted Jessie on the control panel platform, having a rough time with a stuck leg between the treacherous holes in the floor.

“Jessie!” Barret called her, overtaken the two mercenaries.

“Guys! What the hell happened in there?! I thought you weren’t gonna making out alive and that I was going to be the next.”

While Cloud and Zack hurried near them, Barret tried to help pulling out his comrade’s leg, but there was no way, at least not in his conditions.

"Shit, we almost didn’t make it," Barret confessed and then turned to the pair behind him. “You two, help Jessie! I'm going ahead and tell Biggs that we're coming.”

Cloud grimaced at the cheek the man gave them. It seemed that he was bossing them for everything and also detracting from the fact that, if they didn’t get to work for him, they probably wouldn’t have even arrived at the merchandise gate. He waited for the same response from Zack, but he didn’t find it. He already launched himself to help the girl.

"It has to be done little by little," Zack said as he pulled out Jessie's leg with great skill.

“Thanks, Zack." She said smiling and immediately moving away as fast as she could, trying not to waste any more time.

Cloud and Zack continued behind her.

The route to the emergency exit didn’t take them too long, it designed for the evacuation of all workers in case an emergency such as this arose. The difference was that they were the only ones aware of the danger of the explosion. And, as expected, Shin-Ra's guards had come to stop the resistance from escaping. Unfortunately, they had no chance with two former SOLDIERs, specifically trained for battle.

Time was running out with each step they took, closer to the reach of the bomb’s detonation. Going through the last corridors to the outside, the whole team was aware of the dangerous explosion when they felt how the foundations of the reactor rumbled under their footsteps and the flames heated the walls around them at an incredible speed. The construction material ignited and the detonation became even stronger.

AVALANCHE and the two mercenaries left at last to the streets of Sector 8, with a layer of smoke behind them, but above all, they were looking for air to breathe. They coughed because of the ash and moved as far away as possible from the newly formed chimney. Then Zack was quick to verify that Cloud was alright.

"This will give the planet a break... at least for a while longer," Biggs said with difficulty.

“Let’s hope so," Wedge answered.

Everyone gathered far from the smoke and occupied the space of the lonely plaza. If they didn’t hurry to leave, they would have the surveillance teams there in a heartbeat.

"Well, let's get out of here," said Barret quickly. “We’ll meet at the station. Split up, we'll see each other on the train. Remember, the freight wagon!”

After Barret’s insistence, AVALANCHE members scattered all over the place. A good strategy to be more difficult to find. The leader of the team was ready to do the same when he was interrupted by Cloud.

“Hey…”

“If it's about the money, remind me when we get to the hideout, okay?”

Cloud frowned. Something told him a long time would pass before he could see that money.

“Don’t look at me like that! Do you think I was going to bring it to the mission?”

He sighed loudly. He didn’t know why he was surprised, it was Barret after all.

"I'm leaving." He wasn’t in the mood for arguments, much less to endure the other man for another minute.

Zack scratched the back of his neck with some discomfort as Cloud marched towards the stairs that went up to the other level of the street. Soon he mended himself with a faint smile and raised his voice to his friend, something that Cloud saw when he heard him.

“Don’t get lost!”

Cloud responded with a simple hand gesture to reassure him.

"You'd better hurry," Barret said to Zack. “The train will depart in five minutes.”

And, before there could be any complaint, everyone left the plaza.

He wasn’t aware of the direction he took since he left the group. Seeking tranquility in the streets, he didn’t think the bystanders couldn’t be scared by the tremendous explosion. The inhabitants who spent the night outside, were surprised by this and now ran from one side to another, looking for security teams, their loved ones or just a clueless people to steal from.

In front of Cloud's eyes, as he walked along the crossroads, a young florist was a victim of a shove. The guy didn’t apologize, he just ran away with an insult towards her. Cloud felt something inside him stirring.

Strange... among all that destruction, the only thing that outraged him was that small gesture of abuse. Perhaps her delicate appearance and the impossible fact that she had flowers, aroused in him a certain righteous spirit.

That girl was dressed in a striking dress, the colour of a soft rose, her brown hair tied with a bow and a wicker basket full of flowers. She approached Cloud, who stayed still on the ground in the middle of all that chaos.

“Excuse me... do you know what happened?” she asked with concern.

Cloud quickly left his reverie and focused his attention on her.

“It would be better if you go back home.”

The florist was somewhat confused by his reply.

“I don’t even understand what's going on, but okay.”

She started to move on, but Cloud interrupted her with a silent voice.

“Listen…”

The florist turned and looked at him intently.

Cloud, until that moment, didn’t noticed the sudden and innate consideration that he poured in her and he spaced out for a moment.

“Hmm, nothing." Cloud finally answered dryly.

“Nothing? Come on... you can tell me!” She insisted with arched eyebrows and a little smile.

Cloud scratched the back of his neck, nervous at the stupid situation he had gotten himself into. He quickly thought of how to get out of it, unable to show her his cold side, not even the insecure one he was trying to hide. He had wanted to help her from the beginning and felt strange about it.

“It’s rare to see flowers around here." He pointed to the basket that she had hanged on one arm.

“Oh, these?” Seemingly, the comment made her quite happy ”You like them? They only cost a gil, in case you're interested in buying some.”

He responded with a nod, something that the girl was very excited about. Smiling with that innocence and simplicity, Cloud felt a warm complacency, one that he hadn’t had in his motivations since he woke up.

The florist handed him a beautiful yellow flower.

“Thank you so much! You're very kind.”

Cloud said nothing, something that didn't seem to matter to the florist. He immediately continued his way.

He watched her walk away and then contemplated the curious and striking flower between his gloved fingers. Finally he put the stem between the belt, its radiant yellow contrasting with the dark purple of his uniform.

He hurried on his way to the train station and took a shortcut through the second plaza. It had also suffered damage from the explosion. At any area he watched or listened, Cloud only heard the laments and the complaints of the citizens. Surprisingly, others applauded what had happened while letting out Barret's same conspiracy speech. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

Time pressed on him. Cloud ran to the station and, crossing the street, found himself in the middle of an intersection he didn’t recognize. A pretty ugly problem if he kept in mind that Jessie was in charge of keeping him anonymous and that it was impossible to travel from sector to sector without the train. And to worsen it further, Shin-Ra’s security guards had been following him.

“Hey, you!”

Cloud ignored the warning coming from behind his back and hurried on.

“One more step and we shoot!”

That was enough reason to make Cloud start running towards the right, where he was surprised by another group of soldiers.

“It's him, don’t let him escape!”

He was forced to continue on the opposite side, over the tunnel that kept the underground track hidden from the train. In front of him, another patrol pointed their rifles at him.

“Surrender, terrorist. You have no escape now.”

He was immediately cornered between gun barrels and the arrogant laughter of the security guards, himself on the edge of a precipice. He thought about throwing himself into battle, but the chance of being shot was too high. The sound of the train and the rattle of it shaking the foundations of the platform gave him an idea.

“I don’t have time to play with you.”

“Shut up! Surrender or…”

Cloud didn’t doubt, he didn’t take more time and climbed up the security railing.

“What the...?! Catch him!”

Too late, Cloud threw himself into the train tracks.

 

iv.

AVALANCHE and Zack entered the freight car after had been waiting for Cloud, but there was no sign of the man on the platform. The group was in the dark car while keeping a sepulchral silence, afraid to mention that something could have happened to Cloud on his the way to the station. However, Wedge was always the first to break the ice in the most inappropriate way.

“It’s weird that Cloud hasn’t appeared, right?”

Everyone was aware of the skills he had, but Biggs was the first to question it.

“If he’s been killed?”

"Impossible," Zack said incredulously.

He had more reason to think that Cloud could have been captured by Shin-Ra and at the same time he refused to think about that possibility.

“Why are you so sure?” Barret asked, his arms folded. “Doesn’t matter if you both are ex-SOLDIER or not, that doesn’t make you immortal.”

Zack pouted, although he didn’t let those words provoke him. Cloud was his friend and, as such, it was normal for him to trust that he was still alive. A mere supposition, even as likely as it was, wouldn’t make him doubt until he saw him dead with his own eyes.

At that moment, over their heads, knocks were heard coming from the deck of the car. They looked up, but it stopped in a matter of seconds.

Silence reigned again.

“Do you think Cloud would have fought for AVALANCHE until the end?” Biggs asked, looking at the rest.

That question asked in past irritated Zack a little. He didn’t say anything anyway because Barret raised his voice and surely there were quite a few that wouldn’t like the answer.

“How the hell do you think I'm going to know that?! Do you take me as a fortune teller?”

Barret finished his question with a loud slap in one of the storage boxes.

“If you weren’t all a bunch of useless…” he mumbled.

His companions looked down, at odds with their boss, but they knew that much pressure made him very angry, especially when he felt responsible for the death of someone.

“Barret, what about our money?”

A question asked by Wedge at the worst moment. Barret hit the box again.

“I-I shouldn’t have asked anything... sorry,” he corrected.

Above their heads was heard those strange knocks again, this time in the trapdoor of the roof. The members of AVALANCHE and Zack looked at each other and placed themselves on guard in case it was an ambush. With two shakes, the door opened and someone known descended almost in free fall.

“Cloud!”

Zack was the first to celebrate the arrival of his friend with a grin he approached the blonde. He didn’t take much time to shake him gently by the shoulders. Everyone else responded with relief, except for Barret, who stayed away and angry about the previous and unnecessary worry.

“It seems I’m a little late.”

Cloud remained in the center of the car, showing a somewhat impassive attitude as many other times.

“True! You're late!” exclaimed Barret, who approached the group and made his way to face Cloud. “And you also come here all cheeky after making a scene.”

Cloud looked away and shrugged.

“So what? It’s what I always do.”

Barret began to get irritated. Sparks almost appeared from his eyes.

“What?! You've had us all worried and you don’t give a shit!”

Cloud's attitude was more and more unimpressed.

“Were you worried about me?” he asked, quite not believing it.

That's what Cloud didn’t expect. Because of that, the tone he used was not exactly the friendliest.

"You..." Barret finally bursted. “You won’t get your pay, for coming up all cocky!”

After the reprimand Cloud received, Barret caught the team's attention with a clap. They quickly stiffen from their relaxed stands, they seemed to rather enjoying the dispute than being uncomfortable by it. Zack, on the other hand, remained on the sidelines until they finished yelling at each other.

“Move! We have to get out of here.”

And with wave of his arm, Barret went out the door that connected to the next car, followed in a row by Wedge, Biggs and Jessie.

Zack put the hands on his hips with an eyebrow arched, he faced the door and then turned to Cloud, directing a subtle smile to him.

"You've left everyone with their mouths open," he said as if everything had come to him as surprise.

Cloud, however, showed only an attitude of impassivity and sometimes superiority by a false excess of confidence, with which he intended to hide his true emotions. While in private, his haughty behavior was diminished for no apparent reason.

"They're very impressionable." He crossed his arms after diminishing his merit.

Zack jumped when he was under the trapdoor and closed it when he collapsed next to Cloud, who remained, as always, in a taciturn silence. His blue eyes locked on the blonde, inspecting him and suddenly a sing-song laugh came from his throat.

“Let's see... look at me." He searched for Cloud's gaze, which he tried to avoid.

“For what?” he protested.

Zack, with one hand, asked him to do it. Instead, Cloud withdrew his face in disgust. In the end Zack did it by force and rubbed the palm of his hand all over the blond’s face, cleaning it thanks to the leather of the glove.

“What on earth are you doing?” Cloud mumbled, pulling away.

"Your face is full of soot." Zack laughed. “Finish cleaning yourself,” he said, not risking upsetting Cloud even further.

Zack pointed out the areas where dark stains remained and Cloud, frowning, removed the last spots with the back of his glove. Suddenly, Barret appeared through the door waving a fist.

“What are you still doing here? They're going to start checking the wagons.”

After speaking, Barret kept the door open for the pair to go to the next car. The interior was completely empty, except for a couple of travelers and AVALANCHE members. It was quite dirty and the smell very unpleasant. It was as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time and neither seemed to be a concern for the owners. They even allowed it to be home for some vagabonds.

“Now, stop behaving like kids. Sit down and be quiet for a while," Barret ordered them.

The man began to walk down the aisle as he supervised travelers from outside his crew, in case someone started to get suspicious.

“It would be good if we rested a little, right?” Zack encouraged Cloud and took him to the empty seats that lay ahead.

They sat facing each other in their seats. Zack seemed more attentive to the events around them; Cloud, however, was more introverted, but that didn’t make him any less observant. Beside him sat a bald man that was talking on the phone about what had happened in the Reactor No. 1. People were afraid and worried about the consequences that Shin-Ra would take; those responsible weren’t going to go unpunished and Cloud knew it.

Biggs approached Zack, quite encouraged by the success of the mission.

"It seems they haven’t activated the security update for this train," he sat on the armrest of his seat and ran a hand over his head. “But surely tomorrow they will.”

“Hey, you can take a moment to sleep. You look tired.”

“It's just what I was about to do!”

Biggs yawned and sat next to Zack to take a nap for a while. The two caught Cloud's attention, especially Zack, who made a funny grimace when Biggs' head ended on his shoulder.

Barely a couple of minutes passed. Cloud finally enjoyed a little of the silence and alone time in his own space, something that didn’t last long; Wedge appeared at his side with a good-natured smile. For some reason he was excessively sociable with him and Cloud didn’t yet understand why. He only knew that he was annoying and also very insecure.

“AVALANCHE will soon become famous, you'll see. And that means that I’ll be too," he said with conviction, but he still sought the approval from others. “Do you think I'll succeed?”

Cloud remained in silence and ended up crossing his arms.

“What do you think?”

“Well, I've been feeling like I’ve been playing second fiddle all my life, but after joining AVALANCHE and trying to help the planet... I don’t know, it's like I feel capable of anything.”

He saw the big smile that appeared on Wedge's face and the brightness in his eyes, and he couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.

“Dreaming is free of charge.” Cloud said, at risk of sounding like a total jerk.

Wedge's face snapped a little. Apparently he didn’t expect such a comment.

“That was very cruel, Cloud... do you really think so?”

Cloud simply shrugged and didn’t continue with the conversation. He wasn’t being cruel, it wasn’t his intention to look like that either. He was just trying to get Wedge out of that cloud of unreality. How could he be so optimistic after blowing a hole in the reactor? At the most, he should be grateful of being alive, because the worst was yet to come.

Wedge sighed and returned to his place next to Jessie, who was preparing a couple of things on the car's information panel. Cloud noticed she eyeing him for a moment, but quickly turned to Zack a little embarrassed.

“Hey, Zack, can you come here for a moment?” she said, pretending with intent that the shared look with Cloud didn’t happen. “This can help you when you want to move around the city.”

His partner got up from his place, careful to not disturb Biggs, and accompanied Jessie to the front of the panel. Cloud pretended that he didn’t care, but he was listening to the didactic conversation about the train, the Sectors and Midgar in general. Jessie explained with great detail everything related to technology and computing, but above all, she seemed an expert in the operation of the train and the routes it made from one Sector to another. The suburbs were buried by a series of concentric plates that supported the second level of the city, Midgar, to a large central column and the walls of the suburbs. Within that column, the trains moved spirally between sectors and levels, all divided into eight parts and each one with a Reactor that provided electricity to its corresponding sector. As expected, the wealthiest families overlapped on the poorest, literally.

“Throughout the entire route there’re a few checkpoints that the system can read and identify each passenger’s IDs,” Jessie explained to Zack, who was very attentive to the lesson. “Anyone would say that we look suspicious. That's why I'm in charge of creating false documentation so that-”

Suddenly, the lights of the car started blinking periodically with a staggering red.

“Talking of the devil... that light means that we’re in a checkpoint. If everything goes well, the lights will go out without further ado, although we shouldn’t be overconfident. Anyway, we’re already arriving and they won’t waste time with us.”

Moments later, the wagon recovered its normal illumination. For now, they seemed to have passed control.

Cloud lost interest in Zack and Jessie, who seemed to get along quite well. They kept chatting about the city's train system and the new identifiers that Jessie intended to make.

Among Bigg’s soft snoring, Barret seemed the most thoughtful. He took advantage of the fact that Cloud was alone to start a small conversation or, as he was interpreting it, another attempt to know his thoughts.

“The suburbs can already be seen," Barret said as he watched through the car window. “There’s no day or night here... if it weren’t for that plate, we would see the sky.”

At that moment, Cloud got up from his seat to be able to observe from the same angle as Barret.

“A floating city above our heads... a pretty unsettling image.”

Barret stared at Cloud, confused by his words.

"I didn’t expect to hear that from you," he confessed. “You’re full of surprises.”

Cloud said nothing and continued to watch the depressing landscape of Sector 7.

“It's because of that shit that people down here are suffering," Barret continued. “We only breathe polluted air and, meanwhile, the Reactors continue to drain all the energy of the planet.”

He already knew this topic would come.

“Why not just move to the surface?”

“And what do I know? Maybe because they don’t have money or because it’s their home and they don’t care how contaminated it is.”

“I get it... no one lives in these shacks for fun," Cloud thought over it. “It's like this train; it can only move where the rails carry it.”

 

v.

The train arrived at its destination, to the same station where Cloud and Zack were rescued by Tifa and the others. Cloud finally stepped on firm ground when the others in the group left very excited for the success of the mission. Zack was waiting for him at the door, but he barely had time to meet and chat, as Barret demanded their attention with his powerful voice.

“Hey! All of you come here!”

Tediously, both approached Barret while he was surrounded by the other three. He looked around in case anyone suspicious would approach to spy on them.

“Well, guys. Today's mission has been a success, but don’t rest on your laurels because the worst is yet to come," he explained with great vigour. “I hope the explosion didn’t scare you because the next one is going to be even bigger. We’ll meet at the hideout!”

Barret made them scatter with a gesture and advanced his way to the end of the platform. However, Zack and Cloud preferred to go at their pace, together.

"I’m dying to get there and kick back for a while," Zack breathed as he put both hands behind his neck. “I’ll admit I expected a worse result.”

“Me too.”

Although the words of Zack were said to initiate a conversation with Cloud, it was very difficult to continue for him.

Zack's look was very curious on their way to Tifa’s, because he didn’t stopped observing him out of the corner of the eye. For a moment he felt uncomfortable that he had his full attention on him.

"I've been thinking for a while..." Zack spoke again. “Where did you get that flower?”

Cloud looked down at the flower that still stood upright at the edge of his belt.

“I bought it from a girl when I was on my way to the station.”

And for some strange reason, that made Zack smile gently.

“That's why you arrived so late, huh? You little charmer…”

Cloud shook his head repeatedly, giving too much to what Zack could imagine about it. His laughter was fueled by his rushed reaction, it seemed.

“Calm down, I was kidding," the taller admitted with a laugh.

“I only bought it.” he wanted to clarify.

An answer that seemed to leave Zack somewhat more confused. After having seen Cloud's behavior in the recent weeks...

“It’s for Tifa?”

Cloud had to make another silent pause, unable to explain why on earth he had bought a flower if he didn’t plan on keeping it or giving it away. He felt like an idiot.

“No…”

“And why don’t you gift it to her?” Zack suggested then. “She helped us a lot.”

Slowly, Cloud looked at his companion, who seemed to wait for a ‘yes’ in response. He wasn’t very convinced to thank Tifa with a flower, but how could someone tell him ‘no’ at that goofy face? Cloud didn’t question Zack’s suggestion, although he wondered why so much interest in that subject.

“Alright.”

He finally yielded and Zack awarded him with a good pat on the shoulder.

During the whole trip to Tifa’s neighborhood, they talked about the real reason why Cloud took so long to meet them on the train. They walked from the station to the beginning of shanties that shaped one of the poorest area in the sector. The ground was barren earth and its air was almost painful to breathe. On the way, it was easy to see piles of junk and garbage accumulating, or people taking advantage of what others discarded. Cloud hadn’t thought much about that until now, a subtle sense of grief began towards those people.

One knew that they arrived to the neighborhood when the shacks became a little more sophisticated. Even some houses that had formed a small open-air town many years ago still stood. That was the case of the Seventh Heaven, the most famous bar in the area. At his doors was Barret, looking for them with his gaze.

“Come on, slowpokes!”

As they arrived at the bar, a fuss formed inside thanks to Barret's coarseness. He got inside to remove all the customers who had lagged behind at the first warning at gunpoint. They came out in droves and went down the stairs with insults in their mouths. Meanwhile, poor Tifa apologized for the inconvenience he had caused.

The members of AVALANCHE took their place inside the bar, except for Barret.

“You went a little beyond the pale, dude," Zack said to Barret as he went up the stairs next to Cloud.

“Not at all! They were warned already.”

Cloud finished climbing and went straight into the bar, almost making it but Barret blocked his path. He flashed a half-sided smile and a somewhat unwelcome comment. And to emphasize, he pointed to the flower he carried on him.

“Looking forward to see your girlfriend, huh?”

"She isn’t my girlfriend," he answered dryly.

Cloud didn’t stop for a second to discuss the matter and moved inside.

"You’re so boring..." Barret mumbled.

Barret looked at Zack, who raised a shoulder and excused his friend offhandedly. Apparently he wasn’t surprised at Cloud’s attitude and didn’t seem to care either.

“He’s never been into that stuff.”

Both Zack and Barret stayed outside chatting and, just as Cloud passed through the door, Marlene, Barret's daughter, ran out from behind the bar to receive him, thinking he was his father.

“Daddy! Daddy!”

But as soon as she saw the imposing figure of Cloud, the girl retracted and went back the way she had come. She hugged Tifa's lap, pretending she didn’t mistaken him for her dad.

"Marlene, it's just Cloud..." Tifa told her with a reassuring smile.

She took both Marlene's hands and forced her to come out from behind the bar, beside her, but the girl bashfully refused. Meanwhile, the other three members of AVALANCHE watching the scene, gathered at a table to eat.

“You won’t say anything to him?” she insisted.

In the end, she got Marlene to come closer, just to have her come back to hide behind her back. For some reason, Cloud didn’t generate any trust… but he couldn’t care less.

"Welcome, Cloud," Tifa greeted him without losing the smile. “It seems that everything went very well. Where is Barret?”

“Outside with Zack," he said, pointing with his thumb to the door.

Silence settled between them, something that always made Tifa feel awkward. That's why she tried to break the silence.

“Did you argue with Barret again?”

Something that Cloud found hard to admit, but it shouldn’t matter to him. He just stood there without a word; he didn’t need to say anything, his friend knew the answer already.

“That's a ‘yes’, right?” she sighed as she held Marlene closer to her. “I have to wonder... Barret’s always bossing you around and you’re always getting into fights at the slightest provocation. I was worried, really.”

« _What’s this? A lecture?_ »

“If I’m honest, you haven’t changed that much." She smiled with with a bitter expression on her face, but it changed when she noticed the flower that Cloud kept under the leather belt. “Oh, is that a flower?”

Tifa let go of the little girl for a moment so she could get closer to see better the flower, but she stopped halfway there, knowing how important personal space was for Cloud.

“It’s hard to see them in the city, but…”

When Cloud caught Tifa's intentions, he took out the flower and handed it stiffely to her. The truth was that he was only doing what Zack suggested to get rid of the flower.

“For me?” Tifa’s eyes widened in surprise. “Cloud, it wasn’t necessary.” The small gift brought a sincere smile to Tifa, who took the flower between her fingers and smelled its soft fragrance.

"It was nothing," Cloud said, downplaying the gift with a gesture.

He didn’t attach importance to that gift, but he worried that she would. At least he kind of felt at ease to thank Tifa for giving them shelter in her home.

“It's beautiful... thank you. I wish I could fill up the bar with a lots of them.”

Tifa turned to Marlene and squatted down to show her the flower.

“Marlene, come here” she encouraged the kid to gain confidence, which she achieved thanks to the outstanding yellow of the petals. “Look what Cloud’s brought.”

The girl looked with curiosity at it and Tifa, after looking happily at Cloud, placed the flower in the kid’s brown hair to embellish it. She ended up caressing it and then stood up from the floor to pay him attention again.

“I'm glad you're all ok.”

Tifa put her hands behind her back, ready to start a conversation since Cloud remained as quiet as usual. However, Zack and Barret returned to the bar, ruining any chances of peace and quiet. It was then that Marlene did run very determined to her father's arms.

“Hey, Marlene!”

Barret picked up his daughter from the floor and then sat her on one of his broad, strong shoulders. No one would say that this calm and affectionate guy was the same Barret who was in the Reactor setting a bomb.

“And that flower? Did Cloud give it to you?”

That left Barret quite shocked. He looked at Cloud and he simply pretended he wasn’t paying attention.

“And you thanked him?”

Marlene shook her head, to which she responded with a shy thanks for the blonde.

“You see? It wasn’t that bad.” he could heard Zack’s hushed whispering near his ear.

Those words grated on him without knowing the reason very well.

Since that moment, they had a little time to relax. Tifa and Marlene, along with Barret, returned to take care of the bar while the others enjoyed the drinks and food, though Cloud didn’t seem to be really interested.  Zack was already having a good time with Biggs, Jessie and Wedge at the table. The group quickly became aware of Cloud’s solitude, Biggs being the first to get his attention.

“Hey, Cloud! Why don’t you join us?” he said with the words a little dragged, showing him a bottle of whiskey.

Unfortunately, alcohol wasn’t an incentive for Cloud, much less if _they_ were the company.

“Not interested.”

The group laughed, but Zack seemed somewhat more concerned about the situation his friend was going through.

“What?! Oh, come on..." Biggs hit the table with the bottle. “Do you think you're better than anyone because you were in SOLDIER? Zack’s much cooler than you.”

Something Cloud didn’t answer. He didn’t care what he thought of him or how different he was from Zack.

“Whatever... while you're with us, you're still a rookie to me,” he continued with a rather drunken laughter. “You should listen to me and drink a little.”

“Shut up, Biggs," Jessie said as she lift a hand to her face. “You’re making us all cringe…”

At last they gave him the space he needed, although their voices didn’t stop echoing loudly in the bar, interrupting Cloud’s resting at any time they were especially noisy. At least eating distracted him; some fries in sauce were enough. His prefered food caught Wedge’s attention, who turned in his seat to talk to Cloud.

“Tifa’s cooking is amazing, right?” He smiled, but Cloud knew better. He was trying to get closer and be liked. “That is why—”

"I'm not interested in your stories," the blonde cut him off before he ran his mouth.

The last thing Cloud wanted at that moment was to talk or listen to other’s life story. He knew very well what Wedge was trying to do, so he preferred to keep him in line.

Wedge then just kept hushed and turned back to the group.

Although Cloud's attitude towards others could be very draining, none seemed to stop enjoying themselves. It was as simple as leaving him alone.

The group barely finished eating and drinking when Barret raised his voice again. It seemed Barret didn’t know what breaks were. He called everyone to meet in the hiding place for the last meeting of the night. He approached the pinball machine on one side of the large room and, after pressing a button combination, a small wooden portion of the floor revealed that it was, in fact, a moving platform. It descended to an subterranean room, what Barret called ‘the hideout’. Behind him followed his henchmen and Zack along with Jessie.

Cloud sighed heavily and rose from his spot. He had no desire to continue dealing with Barret or the rest. He just wanted to leave, he _needed_ to leave and escape from that burdensome social environment. And if he had to leave Zack on the way, he would.

Suddenly, as he marched towards the platform, Tifa's voice interrupted his path from behind the bar.

“Cloud, why don’t you sit here for a moment?”

He approached reluctantly to her and sat down in front of the bar, his eyes slightly narrowed and his arms on the surface. He could see Tifa from the side, drying some glasses with a rag; Marlene was a bit further from Tifa’s place, away from Cloud.

“Fancy something to drink?” she broke the ice easily this time.

“Not really.”

“Hey, don’t you trust my barmaid skills?” the brunette teased a little. “They say I make the best cocktails in the whole area... are you sure you don’t want to try?” due to her insistence, Cloud gave in.

“Alright, but not too strong.”

“Okay, give me a minute” Tifa smiled pleased.

She turned to the drinks she stored on the shelf and took only some soda and rum. In front of Cloud, Tifa began to mix the drink in a medium-sized glass.

“You know...? It’s really been a relief to see you come back in one piece.”

A statement that confused him a little.

“What’s this for? It wasn’t that bad.”

The response was kind of aggressive for someone as insecure as Tifa, he didn’t know if she could stand it. But she just left the drink ready in front of him.

“No, I guess not... after all, you were in SOLDIER,” and then she changed the subject. “Make sure Barret pays you.”

“Don’t worry," he said before giving the cocktail a good drink. “Once we have the money, we’re leaving... at least I am.”

He felt sorry for Zack, but he wasn’t going to continue under Barret’s command and his madness. It was a decision he had made on the fly and, apparently, Tifa didn’t like his idea too much because of how quiet she remained.

He took the moment to finish the drink and get up from the stool. Then, she hurried to make the blond stop before he could leave.

“Cloud…” her concern was blatantly obvious. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… why?”

“It’s nothing. You must be tired.”

Cloud stay stunned in the spot. He couldn’t understand Tifa's behavior most of the time but he knew something was on her mind, and she not to feel like telling him what.

“It’d be better if you meet with Barret.”

And after that, Tifa returned to her work with a seriousness like few other times, although she tried to hide it. Cloud, on the other hand, wouldn’t worry about that much more. He’d go down, talk to Barret, and leave when the man gave him his money.

Once down there, he found a pretty striking and jovial picture. The basement was composed of a kind of dirty and old room, but it accomplished the purpose as a hiding place. In the back was Wedge sitting at a table, Barret beside him energetically banging his fists against a punching bag while Biggs cheered him up; to the right, Jessie and Zack were front of a computer talking about the current news that came out in relation to the explosion.

"We've gotten ourselves into a shady business," Jessie commented, typing quickly. “The president has just mobilized a group of SOLDIERs.”

“Sooner or later he was going do it." Zack crossed his arms. “You went too far by blowing up the Reactor.”

And Cloud couldn’t agree more with him.

"I know that, but I'm proud of having created such a destructive bomb." She smiled lopsided and pointed to the TV screen. The images of a surveillance camera that caught the explosion were shown over and over again.

“Between us, the mission’s been a success mostly thanks to you," he complimented her. “And I’m sure you have other skills…”

Jessie stuck out her tongue, laughing. Then she ended up giving him a gentle blow on one of his arms.

“Silly… don’t flirt with me!”

Something that Zack responded with an amused laugh.

Cloud remained impassive in front of such conversation, not finding the slightest seriousness in all that. He was wasting his time there.

In that moment, Barret stopped hitting the punching bag and approached the rest of the crew.

"Hey, you two," he called as he tapped the gun-arm against his palm. “Was there someone from SOLDIER we overlooked back there?”

“No, I'm sure," Zack replied, to which Cloud also confirmed with a nod.

However, Barret looked at them incredulous.

“Really? I’m not so sure…”

“Believe us. If there were someone from SOLDIER in the mission, right now you wouldn’t be standing there saying that," Cloud challenged the older man.

He was tired of Barret questioning everything they told to him, but it was clear that Barret was still more tired of Cloud’s arrogant attitude. Both were on their limit after having accumulated so much anger.

“Is that so…?”

As he suspected it would happen, Barret lunged for Cloud and grabbed him by the collar of the sleeveless shirt, defying him with his gaze.

“You think you’re a hell of a guy just because you've been in SOLDIER, right?”

But Cloud remained unmoved by the accusation.

“Barret, calm down!” Biggs exclaimed when he saw that the situation could end really bad.

Biggs along with Zack, both stepped in between the two to separate them. Barret was a very strong man, so someone had to take a good blow before immobilizing him. Unfortunately Biggs was the one receiving it, who ended up on the floor with a good punch in the mouth. Zack, on the other hand, had managed to get Barret away from an surprisingly serene Cloud.

“Enough, Barret…”

“Alright, alright!” he said after getting rid of Zack's grip. “You may be strong… maybe all SOLDIERs are. But you, Cloud," he pointed him out firmly, "don’t forget that you’re now working for AVALANCHE.”

And Cloud still didn’t take his statement seriously, only now he tried to pretend he did, for the sake of Zack more than anything. He didn’t not want Barret to end up hitting him too.

"Don’t even try to go back with Shin-Ra,” Barrett said finally.

“Go back to Shin-Ra?” he mocked him. “You asked us a question, we answered... end of the story.”

After that, Cloud turned around and walked towards the platform.

“I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about _my_ money.”

Exactly, Cloud was taking Zack out of the equation without even consulting him.

“What?” Zack said surprised. “Cloud, wait!”

“Let him go. Don’t you see he misses Shin-Ra?”

And that was enough to take Cloud to the final straw. With fists clenched and shaking, he ended up turning to Barret.

“Shut up!” he yelled angrily, louder than anyone present ever heard him. “I don’t give a shit about Shin-Ra or SOLDIER!” He took a deep breath before speaking again, his body beginning to tremble. “But that doesn’t mean I _do_ care about AVALANCHE or the planet!

He frowned and, without waiting for a counterback, he marched from the platform to the upper floor.

He wanted to reinforce himself, especially in front of his friend, since he feared that Barret's words would make him doubt of their alliance. The truth was that he didn't understand why he cared in that instant moment... When did Zack become so important to him? If he only was one more guy among the others... but, just like Tifa, he felt a connection with him. He would simply ignore those feelings of attachment and that was he planned to do. Get rid of everything that tied him there and made him feel bad.

Arriving at the top floor, the presence of Tifa surprised him. Almost in front of her, he supposed she'd be looking to meet them downstairs, so he quickly slid away from her, toward the bar exit, without saying a word. Yes, it was very easy to run away from all of it.

“Cloud? Where are you going?”

Tifa went after him and interrupted his pace with that simple question. However, for Cloud, it wasn’t easy to answer, less and less as the time passed. That's why he didn't know what to say at all. Tifa seemed to know him better than he’d like to admit, almost like Zack’s case.

"You won’t stay with AVALANCHE?” she asked with disappointment.

“I'm sorry, Tifa…”

He could hear sighing from behind his back.

“The planet’s dying. Slowly, but someday it will," she said as she took a step closer to him. “Someone has to do something.”

Cautiously, Cloud turned around and looked up at her.

“Barret and the others are _already_ doing something” he justified like that his imminent departure. “I’ve nothing to do here.”

“So... you’ll simply leave?” she asked with a reproachful tone. “After all we’ve been through as kids?”

That went directly to Cloud's wounded pride. Unable to remember almost anything of his childhood, Tifa attacked right where it could affect him most. Even so, he digged on his heels.

“Sorry…” he apologized again, already tired of talking.

“And you even forgot our promise…”

“What promise?” he worried to ask.

Tifa responded with a soft sigh and placed the hands on her hips.

“Try to remember. It was seven years ago.”

Cloud nodded slightly and tried to recall the the memory she was talking about, but with that much pressure... for now, there was only a small blurred cloud of something related to a plaza.

“It was in the park... remember?”

That was the key to visualize Nibelheim plaza.

"I think... I do," he acknowledged. “I thought you’d never come and I was getting cold.”

 

_***_

_A young Cloud waited for his friend at the well in the center of the plaza. It was a beautiful starry night that lighted up the town with its dim light. He was sitting on the wooden ledges that made up the well structure, bored and alone. Despite being in the thick of summer, the night was quite cool and he hadn’t taken anything to cover himself. The cold made him shrink a bit in his place and, wanting to go home. Why did he think she would come?_

_Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard behind his back. Cloud turned his head to find Tifa somewhat hurried, dressed in a little more clothes._

_"Sorry, I'm a little late." she tucked in a strand of hair._

_Cloud returned his gaze to the front nervously._

_“Well... what did you want to tell me?” she asked._

_Tifa sat on the ledge too, but keeping a distance with him._

_"I’ll soon leave the village and go to Midgar.”_

_That answer made Tifa look down. Then she rested a heel on the ledge and hugged her own leg._

_“Everyone’s leaving…”_

_Having more possibilities of finding a job in the city and Shin-Ra’s rising, the company required more workers to expand its energetic monopoly._

_“But I won’t do it for a simple job," Cloud explained, afraid of giving the wrong impression. “I want to join SOLDIER and be the best, like Sephiroth.”_

_She smiled bitterly and looked up at the sky._

_“Sephiroth... the great Sephiroth.”_

_Cloud nodded and stood on the ledge. Being little talkative, the social situation forced him to think of something to say, but he couldn’t think of anything. Nervously, he wanted to appear busy and managed to climb the well and sit right on the edge of the well's interior._

_“Isn’t it very difficult to get into SOLDIER?” Tifa asked._

_Due to Cloud's difficulties, in the end, she had to take the step to speak. However, the question was a bit treacherous, especially for herself._

_"I’m sure I won’t come back in a long time," he admitted._

_Tifa took some time to respond._

_“If you do it right, you’ll be in the newspapers.”_

_“Maybe.”_

_"No... you have to be sure of it," Tifa said as she looked up at him._

_Cloud, on the other hand, didn’t show a single bit of conviction. She knew it somehow and wanted to help him._

_“Hey, why don’t we make a promise?” she smiled. “If you manage to become a SOLDIER and be famous, we could form a team. We would help each other if we were ever in danger.”_

_“What?” Cloud didn’t understand the reason of that promise._

_“Whenever one of the two is in trouble, the other will go to the rescue. We’d be like heroes..." she explained eagerly. “I’d like to experience it, once at least.”_

_“But... why?”_

_"Come on," she begged sympathetically. “Promise me.”_

_Cloud thought about it for a moment and didn’t hesitate when giving an answer._

_“Alright…”_

_And, above their heads, just a shooting star crossed the sky to seal their promise._

_***_

“You remember it already, right?”

He only just bowed his head.

“I’m not a hero nor am I famous. I cannot keep the promise.”

The memory, despite of bringing hope for a moment, did nothing but remind him of his failure. He forgot it and he surely never gave it enough importance if reached that point. He’d understand if Tifa was disappointed, but it was only a fool kid’s promise and he didn’t want to give it any value.

“But you fulfilled your childhood dream! You joined SOLDIER,” she tried to regain Cloud's trust. “Of course you can keep the promise.”

He were close to shake his head, apologize and turn around to leave, but from the subterranean room came Barret along with Zack and, apparently, with lots of things to talk about.

“Hey, wait a moment, SOLDIER!” Barret exclaimed as he approached him. “Do you want your money or not?”

Cloud looked at the outstretched hand, which offered him a good amount of money. Beside him, Zack smiled and, by the wink he dedicated to him, surely had convinced the man to pay him already. Cloud run out of words.

He took the money and began to count it; he didn’t want surprises, but he got them anyway.

“Wait... fifteen hundred?” he said with astonishment.

When looking up at Barret, he noticed the man ignoring that detail, but Zack's gaze told him what really happened.

“But…”

“But nothing!” Zack said, approaching Cloud and placing his hands on his shoulders. “If you leave us, I want sleep peacefully. You'll need the money while you're not here.”

“I thought you needed it as well.”

But Zack shook his head.

“I'll stay here for a while longer, don’t worry. I know how important it’s for you to be alone and that's why I’m doing you the favor.”

And even if Zack tried to hide it, Cloud suspected that his decision had hurt him... and Tifa too. He never imagined being so important to them, that they'd do anything to keep him close and, if that wasn’t possible, make the break up as easy as possible.

"Thank you..." he said quietly, lingering to put the money in his uniform pocket.

“But you'd better stay tonight," Tifa offered before he decided to leave. “Rest and get ready for tomorrow.”

However, Cloud wasn’t so sure now about his own decision. He looked at the three before him and then regained his confident attitude.

"Maybe I’m reconsidering it now..." he said as he handed the money to Zack and then faced Barret. “You’ve planned the next mission? We’ll do it for three thousand gil this time.”

Barret's face told it all.

“What?!”

Tifa and Zack, both so surprised by the sudden change of Cloud, ended up laughing, but fully happy to have him back. Especially Zack, who couldn’t help but jump to embrace the blonde to celebrate it. After receiving their warm greetings, Tifa thanked Cloud for the decision to stay a little longer.

And, without being able to avoid it, the bonds between friends began to narrow without the need of some memories.

Like that night, the next day would have more surprises. Barret thought that a new attack would be more destructive if they didn’t delay it. Everyone wanted to convince him that this would make the mission even more dangerous, but he didn't want to listen. At least he agreed to pay the three thousand gil.

Before everyone went to sleep, Wedge stopped Cloud for a moment... again, this time he was somewhat bolder with his statements.

“You always say you don’t care, but you're still with us... do you know what I think? I think that you really only want to have friends.”

Cloud had no answer for that, because he hadn’t even thought much about it. He just ignored it. Somehow he was afraid it might be true.

 

vi.

Cloud had just taken a bath and was now preparing to rest in his small room. He barely sat on the bed when someone knocked his door. He didn’t answered at all and, in a few seconds, Zack's head sticked out from the door, greeting him with a hand and a smile.

“Going to sleep?”

“It's three o'clock in the morning... what did you expect?” Cloud said as he leaned back on the bed and rested his head on the pillow.

What he should have expected is that Zack was a very active guy, so he wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t completely tired. Maybe he wasn’t either after all.

"Right..." he scratched the back of his neck and, without waiting for his permission, entered the room. “Mind if I stay a moment?”

Cloud shook his head, but he either promised he would give him his full attention. In that position, he was starting to get sleepy.

“It’s nothing, I only came because I was really surprised you decided to stay,” Zack said while taking a seat in the closer chair. “Seriously, I thought you were leaving for sure.”

His words left him with nothing to say, just looking at the old ceiling of the room. Anyway, he knew why he said them.

“Me too..." he admitted, but omitting all the details of why he stayed in the end.

“Was it Tifa?” he raised an eyebrow along a smile. “Did she press a lot?”

The suggestion made him sigh heavily. Then he shook his head, but wouldn’t say anything more that could reveal his feelings, ones that even he didn’t even understand or acknowledge.

"Well, what you should do is not provoke Barret so much." he crossed his arms as he leaned back against the back of the chair.

“He’s the one who won’t stop taking my comments personally.”

“Cloud... you know what I mean,” he explained. “I know you're just being yourself, but Barret is Barret and... look, just do your bit, okay? I've talked with him before and he's also going to try to not reach the limits of tonight.”

Cloud didn’t agree, but at least it was an agreement on both sides.

“Alright...I'll try." He yielded and closed his eyes. “He could start by not talking nonsense of the planet and Shin-Ra.”

That answer made Zack grimace, apparently not agreeing with Cloud’s thoughts.

"You haven’t even given him the benefit of the doubt.”

Suddenly, Cloud opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Zack. The blonde was convinced that Zack still didn’t care about that matter.

“Do you believe those conspiracy theories?”

Zack shrugged.

“Maybe. I have no reason to think otherwise either. Plus, they’re so convinced of it... Do you think if it were a fraud they would take the risk to put a bomb, knowing they wouldn’t make it out alive?” he explained his reasons of why he didn’t see it so preposterous. “Dunno, I don’t think they’re imagining all this...”

Cloud thought about it. He didn’t know why, but maybe Jessie was behind all that. He had seen them too close that day... and that could make Zack think about the subject. Or it was simply a strategy to hook up with her and, in the end, it turned out the other way around.

“If you say so..." he answered, now having second thoughts. “Anyway, they’re just wasting time. The planet’s already doomed.”

His pessimistic point of view caused Zack to suffocate a soft laugh.

“You didn’t changed at all deep inside.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that. Although you’ve lost your memory and I find you off in your head sometimes, there are times when I can see the same Cloud as always.”

He didn’t know how to answer to that. Nor what Zack meant either, but he supposed he could take it as a good sign. Cloud could hardly remember anything of his past in the last few days, but, that night, he could say that he managed to connect with a small part of himself.


End file.
